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dark chocolate

It was a quiet weekend. So I made a batch of brownies. February is here but still the sun sets early. Winter isn’t going away anytime soon. This batch had a flaky surface due to a little more butter I used this time.

Take a mixing bowl add melted butter,sugar and mix with a hand blender.Add the almond extract and oil to it and mix well.To this add the egg ( well beaten beforehand ) and your wet mixture is ready.Now in a separate bowl sift the flour and to it add the cocoa powder,baking soda and salt.To the wet mixture add a little amount of the dry mix and blend until all of the dry mix is incorporated in the wet mix. While mixing add the dried cranberries and black raisins.

On a chopping board chop the dark chocolate and add the pieces in the batter.Mix well.Pour the batter into a greased square baking tin.Put it in a pre-heated oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes at 160 degree C. Once you prick the brownie with a needle ( I use an old knitting needle ) and it comes out clean without any batter it is done.Take out the baking tin and let the brownie cool.Cut into squares. I served it with fresh strawberries.

Baking has been an area I have been wary about since a long time.Specially the measurements.Conversion of ounces to grams and cups to milliliters.It is hard,challenging but fruitful if you keep pushing yourself to perfection.There will be glitches and successes too.But a smart cook starts with small steps.Smaller incentives boosting your confidence.

Do not overbake the brownies.They are meant to be chewy and fudgy and not cakey.

Rule 3:

Dark chocolate accompanied with salt makes it sweeter.

Now that the ground rules have been established let us move on to the recipe.Take a mixing bowl add melted butter,sugar and mix with a hand blender.Add vanilla extract and oil to it and mix well.To this add the eggs and your wet mixture is ready.Now in a separate bowl sift the flour and to it add the cocoa powder,baking soda and salt.To the wet mixture add a little amount of the dry mix and blend until all of the dry mix is incorporated in the wet mix.

On a chopping board chop the dark chocolate and add the pieces in the batter.Mix well.Pour the batter into a greased square baking tin.Put it in a pre-heated oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes at 160 degree C.

Do not overbake it.Once you prick the brownie with a needle and it comes out clean without any batter it is done.Take out the baking tin and let the brownie cool.Cut into squares and serve with dollop of vanilla ice cream.